ThunderStorm Tales: Shimmer And Sparkle
by Rainbowshinelove
Summary: The first of many one shot stories, set with my OC's as well as the mane six in a series of stories Summer Springs or Twilight Sparkle tell their oldest daughter, Starlight Summer, whenever a thunder storm frightens her. This tale tells of how a Princess and a Peasant overcome both a curse and the forces of true evil. Rated T for Reasons.
1. Prologue: Scared

**I know I said originally I wouldn't post stories when writing my main series, Summer Twilight, Zecora's Returned Love, and Starlight Summer, but seeing how chapters on Starlight Summer are getting much longer in length and thus taking longer for me to write and the fact that I have other ideas for Fanfiction I decided that this is the kind of break I needed, a different idea while I still work on my current project. So with all of this in mind, enjoy the Prologue.**

 _ **WARNING!:**_ **_IF_ _YOU HAVEN'T READ SUMMER TWILIGHT OR STARLIGHT SUMMER NONE OF THIS PROLOGUE WILL MAKE ANY SENSE! PLEASE READ UP ON THEM AND RETURN AFTERWARDS!_**

 **(Alright, but seriously, all harshness being played for laughs aside, you have been warned. Thank you.)**

* * *

The thunder crashed and lightning flashed on a surprisingly cold summer night, Twilight had gone to Canterlot to help Princess Celestia and Princess Luna with the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala, leaving Summer and Spike to handle Starlight and Solina. Summer was busying herself with a new song after putting Solina down for bed so that Spike could take one of his seven hour bubble baths, it surprised Twilight some of the time that he still did this but then again if he enjoyed it, who was she to judge.

Summer was almost finished writing out the melody when she felt something wrap around her back hoof. Confused she looked down to find Starlight, mane a mess and Candy not far behind clinging to her mother's leg out of fear.

"Starlight? Is everything okay?" Summer asked, feeling concerned for her daughter.

She was about to answer when thunder suddenly crashed, causing the twelve year old to hide in her mother's chest while Candy whimpered, huddling close to the two of them in a similar state of fear. Summer had nearly forgotten how afraid her oldest was of storms, causing her to hug her close to try and calm her down.

"I'm sorry sweetie...it'll be alright I promise." Summer soothed, smoothing down her daughter's mane softly.

Each time the thunder would crash or the lightning would flash the young filly would flinch and hide more in her mother's chest. She felt slightly ashamed for being so afraid when she knew that the weather wasn't something that she herself could stop, unless she wanted to try what her aunt Rainbow Dash had tried to stop winter, but she didn't think that was a very wise idea, knowing how that ended for her aunt.

Summer suddenly had an idea, moving and grabbing a book that was nearby, "How about a story to help ease the mood until the storm calm down?"

The young alicorn was hesitant at first, believing herself to be too old for that method to help much, but when thunder crashed loudly she nodded as she clung to her mother tighter for a moment.

Summer smiled and nodded, opening the book and flipping through the pages until she found a story she thought was fitting.

"Here's one I don't think I've told you before," Summer told her daughter softly, "It's called 'Shimmer and Sparkle' A tale of a Princess, cursed by an evil creature. A lonely and shy Peasant forced to go on a quest to rescue her."

"That...that does sound nice," Starlight commented as she slightly looked up at her mother, "how does it start?"

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 **The characters will be listed by their roles in the story, sort of like how they do in the show, please note ahead of time the characters that the mane six and other My Little Pony characters will portray may not act exactly like the characters that play them. But they will still have their traits and personalities, only in different forms. This will also be included in characters played by my OC's. Names of some characters may also be changed in any of the stories in this particular series, as well as the type of pony they are, depending on the context of the story being told.**


	2. Chapter 1: Shimmer

Once in a land far beyond Equestria, there lived a King and his Queen, who for the longest time had longed for a foal to call their own. They tried everything they could think of, but never had any luck. They had asked the help of every enchanter and enchantress they could find, but each time it never gave them what they so longed for. One day they decided their last resort was to ask help from the King of Timber Mountain. It was said he had the head of a goat, the body of a serpent, a snake tail, cloven hoof and lizard claw, an antler and a horn upon his head, and finally the paw of a lion and an eagles' claw. He had once tried to control the very world, he was said to have powerful magic, that allowed him to bend reality in any way that he so desired. However, he had been defeated by a powerful force of light, unknown even by him, and now to repay for his missdeeds, would help those who sought him out. But they were always warned that asking for his help was never free, and that he would often tell ponies who went to him that if he helped them, one day he would ask for their payment.

This was a risk only few took, seeing as the payment he would ask for could very well be anything. However, this did not scare the King and his Queen, and they were willing to exchange anything if it would mean they could have a child of their own. They made the journey across their very land, and climbed the mountain where they finally came upon a cave made of rock candy and white chocolate that was said to hold the King of Timber Mountain. They moved towards the cave with great care, as they were unsure how he would react to their being there. within the cave was a horned black and red throne padded with what looked like teeny tiny mattresses, a dancing badger wearing a sombrero and tap shoes in the corner, who seemed to be having the time of his life, and an entire wall made out of cotton candy, peppermint sticks and what appeared to be a giant strawberry.

" _ **Well, isn't this a wonderful surprise.**_ " Came a voice from inside the cotton candy.

The two looked around in shock before he appeared in a flash of light, sitting on his throne. He wore a crown of green and blue candy canes and a large yellow gem, his cloak of dark red with a blue interior lining, a stripped yellow fur trim on the bottom. They begged for his help, telling him of their troubles. He remained silent for a long time, scratching his chin before beginning to knit for some reason, using what appeared to be their tails, to which they both fearfully checked they had their tails.

They did not.

"Are you simply a phony, preying on desperate ponies' dreams?!" The King cried out in anger, not noticing that their tails quickly grew back.

"Oh heavens no~!" He replied with a grin, "That would be the old me from so very long ago. Now I help those who need my magic."

He handed them the finished product, a blanket big enough for the two of them, they gave him a confused look and he explained, "With this blanket, it's magic is strong enough for you both to be able to produce two children."

"And for your payment?" The Queen asked him, her voice soft and slightly worried.

"Oh, I will wait until your second child is born and we will discuss it then." He replied casually.

The king and queen, grateful for his help, bowed and moved to leave the cave. True to the King's words the queen soon gave birth to a unicorn colt, with a white coat, blue eyes and mane and they named him, Lazul Shield. For his birth the King had a mage with a warm blue coat and light pale silverish blue mane to bless a shield, one his son would one day wield. Seven years passed and the Queen then gave birth to a small lavender unicorn filly with dark navy blue hair with a purple and magenta stripe on her bangs, mane, and tail. As if by some sort of signal, the moment the foal reached her mother's hooves a flash of blue light the King of Timber mountain appeared before them.

"Well now, that took much longer than I thought, given how desperate you two were when you came to me last." He commented, moving closer, "But that's hardly why I'm here."

He looked over the foal with sharp and judging eyes, despite the Queens' efforts to keep her child out of his sight. After what seemed like an eternity of him inspecting the newborn, in a way that would make even the mightiest of warriors feel unease, he snapped his claws and a new wrap was suddenly swaddling the small filly.

"There we are! That's what seemed to be missing! I always do figure these things out last moment. Now, I assume you understand why I'm here." The King of Timber Mountain said, snapping his claws and bringing out a contract that honestly was just a bunch of nonsense that was nowhere near what they were discussing.

"Your payment..." The King said grimly, not sure he was ready to know what he would be asking from them,even after expecting it all this time.

"Yes indeed, you catch on quickly." The King of Timber Mountain grinned, "Now, you've been gifted twice by my magic, it is only fair that in return your payment involve magic, she indeed will have magic that common unicorns have, but very weakly." Before they could object he had already snapped his eagles claw, and the payment was made. Despite her limited magic, the King and Queen named their tiny filly Princess Shimmer. Eventually, however, the king slipped away and begged the King of Timber Mountain to change his payment. He refused,causing the king to attack him. His magic was no match for the chaotic King, and as punishment he placed a curse upon the king, foretelling of great darkness to come within the next seven years. Defeated and broken, the king could not bare to tell his wife of what he had done, only sealing their fate even more it would seem.

The years passed quickly, but on Princess Shimmer's 7th birthday as their parents went to get her gift, a force of great darkness known as the Shadow Hallow surrounded their home, engulfing the king and his queen and forever sending them to the realm of shadows. What appeared to be a dark cloud of sparking shadow soon took the form of a ghostly stallion, with a horn made of black lightning. Lazul took to the front to face the ghostly dark figure, however, he had no chance against the darkness and it's dark magic, the figure sent a bolt of dark magic at the young prince, but the moment he tried to use his shield to deflect the attack, the enchanted shield saved his life by pulling him inside it, binding the two to create an enchanted mirror. Shimmer, fearing the worst, ran from the scene. However within moments the figure had found her, however appeared to take pity of the small filly, and instead of destroying her it took her from her home, placing her inside it's den hidden far in the mountains. The loss of the Royal family caused mass panic, until Self proclaimed Lord Iron Horn took it upon himself to take charge of the land.

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 **I'm fully aware that this chapter is quite short, but there will be longer chapters to come, as I work on it more. For now this of this as the lore of the story as I think of the best way to tell this story. So for now, be** **patient and feel free to Private message me, go to my page to do so, if you have any ideas.**


	3. Chapter 2: Prophecy

**I'm well aware that this story may seem a bit off here and there, but it will come together more as I write more, if that makes sense. Just be patient, and things will start piecing together. I also apologize for the fact that chapters on this story take quite a long time to write, as I write between writing on Starlight Summer and my artwork as well. Meaning that this isn't really a story of priority, rather something I'll be doing for the fun of it whenever I get writers block on another chapter or story. I've also decided to rename the main villain to sound more appealing, just because I feel Iron Horn doesn't sound as threatening, since the character himself doesn't actually have an Iron unicorn horn. With all this said, please enjoy.**

* * *

Years seemed to pass without any notice at all, under the rule of Iron Hoof things became grim and dark. He was a dark red unicorn stallion with a black and midnight purple mane, and deep green eyes with a fencing sword for a cutie mark. Under his rule magic became harder and harder for the citizens to use, and more and pegasi and earth ponies began to find their way to the Kingdom for work and shelter. No pony knew what became of Lazul Shield or Princess Shimmer, knowing only that the king and their queen were gone. Lazul, bound to the shield and transformed into an Enchanted Mirror, found himself hanging in Iron Hoof's bed chamber tasked with forever serving whomever held possession of him. Anything that he was asked he would have to answer, even if doing so brought him great shame or heartache. He would ask him to look into the magic within to see destiny and fate, and each time he would ask something of him, his own magic would grow. However, in order for this to be possible Iron Hoof would use the enchantment of the mirror to slowly drain the magic from the ponies in the surrounding villages.

Twenty years seemed to come and go without any problems, and everypony in the kingdom began to wear either a special jewel around their neck, or a tapestry was hung in their home to honor the fallen royal family. The castle began to deteriorate and became a ruin, every important document, tapestry, jewel and book from the library inside, moved to a new palace, made for Iron Hoof and his many enchanted items and scrolls. Though the castle remained in ruin there were still ponies who would search for anything they could that they believed would keep the memory of the royal family alive. Things seemed at peace in the kingdom, and Iron Hoof seemed to be a good leader, if maybe a bit hot tempered a bit of the time, however as he grew older Iron Hoof began to feel that his land was missing something and so he went to his mirror.

He stood proudly in front of it, speaking clearly as his horn glowed to summon the enchantment of the mirror, "Mirror oh mirror bound by fate, show me a king, both noble and great."

Lazul, appearing only as a blue shadow in the mirror's glass, sighed, "First of all, you know the rhyming thing is just a myth, so after 20 years this joke's getting old. And second, you are hardly noble or great...you aren't even a King!"

Iron Hoof turned his attention back towards his mirror, smirking with great pride as he spoke, "How am I not King? After all this time the darkness is still at bay, the king and his queen perished when it appeared, and only I know what became of you, dear Prince. Face it, _**I'm**_ the ruler of this land!"

"You may rule over this land, but to truly be king you would, in theory, have to marry the only other heir to the throne. And even my enchantment cannot tell me where to find her." Lazul countered, knowing full well this to be true, after Lazul became bound to his shield and trapped in the Enchanted Mirror his sister had fled, but even he didn't know that the Darkness itself had taken her, "Even you know this to be true, I cannot lie."

Iron Hoof paced angrily, his horn glowing slightly in anger before it dimmed as he thought of another way to get the information, "Then you will simply tell me who _**can**_ tell me where she is."

He sighed and grumbled as he closed his eyes before they became bright red glowing orbs, "I foresee the chosen, born under the year of the sapphire, strong in passion and kindness. They must venture to the dwelling of the King of Timber Mountain. Only the chosen can tell where she lay hidden."

Iron snarled in frustration, "You're telling me, I can't go there myself?!"

"Yes, despite your magic, you lack the wings to be able to take this journey, plus you're hardly as young as you make yourself out to be my _King_." He answered, a slightly sarcastic tone to his voice before he continued, "Only the chosen born under the year of the sapphire, raised by magic users, can be told and and only the chosen can find her."

Iron Hoof paced angrily, using his magic to cancel out the summons enchantment of the mirror, back to it's everyday appearance, "Very well, I'll find every pegasus in the kingdom born under that year. One way or another, I'll find where she is."

As Lazul remained aware, despite the summons being broken, he could not help but feel relief. In truth even his enchantment, despite most other times being completely based on one vision alone, could not predict that he was 100% sure about what was to be done. Unlike other times...there was a second possibility on who exactly would find her...one much more likely to defeat the darkness. And though this would be a great thing, and could possibly free him from his prison of a mirror, he could foresee doing so would only give Iron Hoof a greater chance of quite possibly marrying his sister, and he'd be shattered to a million shards before he'd allow that. He could only hope that maybe, just maybe, things would work out and the chosen would be able to save both his kingdom, and his little sister.

* * *

Far outside the larger city, rested a small town of all different kinds of ponies named Hooventrot. It was a fairly small village, not a whole lot going on. It had a small town hall, a simple market area, surrounded by blacksmiths and medical mage tents. Surrounding that were various farmlands and gem mines, and above everything else, high in the trees lived a rather...unusual family. Granted it was not uncommon for families to be made of different types of ponies, it _wasn't_ common for two unicorns to birth a set of Pegasus twins. One a fair buttercream yellow with pink hair and teal eyes named Sky Butterfly, while the other a very light Cyan blue, with ironically only slightly darker blue eyes, her mane a paler pink with pale mint green streaks named Sun Sparkle. Their father was a blue color with dark blue eyes, a slightly dark mint green mane and a star for his cutie mark, named Flash Healer. He was one of the many medical mages in their village and he often helped ponies who couldn't afford the more well known mages in their town. Their mother was a pink unicorn with light blue and soft teal eyes and a light pink and blue mane, with a blue rose for her cutie mark, named Flower Bloom. She mainly helped to tend to gardens on one of the farms in town, as well as tried her best to provide friends and family with food.

When the twins had been born their parents were over joyed, as they had been blessed with daughters the very same year the King and Queen had given birth to Princess Shimmer. After the tragedy that had befallen their kingdom and the disappearance of the royal family, Flash Healer and Flower Bloom decided to search for the most similar gems they could find to give to them, so they too could honor the royal family as their parents did. They ventured for days, leaving their fillies with the village school teacher who gladly watched over them as a family friend, to search the surrounding fields and hills for the right gemstones. After four days of searching they were almost ready to give up, when they came across the ruins of the castle. While they believed it was a long shot that there would be any gems there, they decided to search the ruins anyway. They walked along the breaking and crumbling structure until they came across two dark blue gemstone shards, they looked as if they had at one point been the part f a larger gem, but it had been shattered long ago, with one piece seeming to be long gone. Despite what they felt inside, a twinge of worry, they decided that the gem shards were too beautiful and too perfectly fitting to leave behind and so they used their magic to create the necklaces for their daughters.

After years and years of hard work they began to struggle to keep food on the table, and it became necessary for Sky and Sparkle to take on jobs of their own in town in order for them to get by. Sky used her kind nature to earn the trust of animals around their village and acquire the job of animal care and control, keeping the dangerous animals at peace while caring for the sick or injured pets and wildlife used to help the farmers and the mages with their work, such as beavers that helped to irrigate the rivers for the farm lands or the cats that could locate herbs for medical mages' treatments, or dogs that guarded the town treasury, though the town itself was hardly rich. Sparkle took to a more passion based line of work, trying to earn bits by singing by the town hall, or sometimes helping the farmers by giving them rain clouds to water their crops. Sparkle would work hard trying to write new melodies so she could earn more, but even then there were times she write them just because she wanted to write a new song, and she saw no harm in that. Neither twin ever earned much, but they did what they could to help their parents and to them that was enough to keep them all happy as a family.

Sparkle found herself to be fascinated with the mystery that surrounded the royal family in her spare time, and how they seemed to all vanish in the darkness. No one really knew why the creature stopped it's attack after taking the Royal family and it was something that Sparkle wanted to know and understand. Sky wasn't really as heavily interested as her sister seemed to be, but she enjoyed reading about them with her sister and both of them seemed to want to eventually figure out what had _**REALLY**_ happened to them, and someday maybe even find a way to bring them back.

When Sky was working with her animals she often wore a simple green skirt with floral patterns with lightweight fabrics, this ensured she was more likely to earn the animals' trust since she blended into her surroundings as well as they could, the skirt worked to keep her cutie mark of three pink butterflies hidden as well. While she would care for the medical mages cats she would actually speak with them. She'd ask them what they felt, how something effected them, or even what they were even there for. It would normally take a bit for the cats to tell her anything since more often than not the cats around their home were considered wild rather than pet like. Eventually she'd make progress and get enough information for her to help them with whatever they needed, tending paws, the sniffles, and other assorted illnesses that they could have been going through. Sky could actually talk to the animals, she could understand their fears and worries as well as what they were thinking or needing in that moment unlike the medical mages who would often seek her help for their cats. They'd compliment her on her work, which she would shyly and humbly thank them for. When it was the wildlife she tended to, she acted just ever so slightly different, gaining their trust by speaking to them in a soft and gentle voice. It wasn't as often that she found herself tending the wild animal's injuries and illnesses, as she truly had to help her family with the money and wild animals could not pay for their treatments. But when she did she did it out of the kindness in her heart, as well as the tender love she had for the animals.

Sparkle, on the other hoof, tried to show her love for music through her voice, often choosing a simple tan cape that covered her wings and cutie mark over nearly everything else she was offered. Her sister would often ask her if she wanted to borrow one of her skirts but she'd always refuse, knowing that green wasn't really her color and wanting to just keep things simple. She figured her clothing wouldn't be what ponies were looking for when they heard her sing, and so she felt if she could be herself even when singing she would be able to make the money that her family needed. She would often hum to herself while working the weather as well, trying to come up with new ways of entertaining the town to make money. Sometimes it got to the point Flash Healer would argue with her, wanting her to get a job that paid better. In the end he would always realize how silly he was being, asking his daughter to quit doing what was earning them money in the first place.

When they weren't working the twins often went into town together to shop for their parents and talk to the ponies in the village and, if they had extra money, look around the shops for various books or sometimes certain animal treats. It was on one occasion that Sparkle found a flower barrette that she knew would match her sister's Skirt perfectly. She counted the bits she had and smiled softly, it was enough for the barrette though just barely. She offered it to the shop keeper gently with a kind smile. He handed her the barrette and she hurried off to tell her sister, who was just finishing up the fruit section of their mother's shopping list.

"Sky! I found something for you!" Sparkle grinned excitedly.

"Oh?" Sky asked softly, looking u at her sister shyly.

Sparkle placed the barrette in her sister's mane, pinning her bangs up just ever so slightly, "I found it while looking for the moon roots for father. I thought it would look perfect with your skirt and prettier in your mane."

"Sparkle, this is so thoughtful. But you didn't have to do that." sky said bashfully with a hint of an embarrassed blush.

"No way!" Sparkle grinned, hugging her twin softly, "we're sisters, I'd do anything if it meant making you feel lovely."

Sky smiled at her sister happily, both of them blinking when the dark blue gemstone shards began to glow faintly. It stopped rather quickly, and neither twin really thought much more about it. They assumed it was simply the sunlight catching them at the right angle. They chuckled lightly and they went on their way, continuing to shop for their parents.

* * *

Iron Hoof thought for a long while on what he would need to do and where he would get any information and decided to search his library, looking for any clue as to when the year of the sapphire actually was. Despite only being at the age of 48, he knew very little about certain names for different years, those that were important enough to actually be named after priceless gemstones. Beginning with history surrounding the Kingdom, working his way to books on the subject of gem relations to the calendar, all the way down to books that seemed as though they were utterly useless. He searched for what seemed like days before he found a certain book that caught his eye. In the back corner of the library sat a large purple, grey, blue, and white book etched with gold and silver trimmings. The book was caked in dust and looked as though he could destroy it simply by touching it with even _his_ magic. However, he knew that he needed to check every book and so he carefully picked the book off of it's shelf and slowly made his way over to the desk.

Looking closer as he wiped away the dust and his eyes glowed darkly with realization. This was the history of the last royal family. He opened the book slowly, as to not ruin the pages and began reading. At first be believed that there would be nothing written in this book that could be useful to him, simply reading about the king and his queen for a good amount of time before something caught his attention. He read that after the birth of Prince Lazul Shield they declared that the year of his birth, the year of the birth of a long awaited heir, would be called, "the Year of The Emerald". Reading farther the year of the Sapphire was clearly written to be the year that dear Princess Shimmer was born.

Iron Hoof grinned a frightful grin as he tucked the book carefully into a drawer near his bed. He began to write a declaration as soon as he reached his desk, " _ **My dearest subjects. It has come to my attention recently that there is a chance our beloved young Princess Shimmer did not meet the fate of the rest of the Royal family. But there is no way that I, your beloved ruler, can find where she has been kept for all these years. And so I ask that all pegasi born under the year of the Sapphire come to my palace one week from this day, where it will be decided who is fit to find our Princess.**_ "

He sent a messenger to every town and village to spread the news, knowing full well that ponies would of course wish to save the only surviving heir to the throne. None of them would ever realize that he would not be giving the throne away so easily. He sneered to himself at his own brilliance, turning to leave the library to return to his bed chamber to stand in front of poor Lazul once again.

"Mirror Mirror on the wall, shielded hex and magic messed, show me the way to prove who is best and enlighten me with the perfect test!"

Lazul groaned slightly, once more appearing to him with what appeared to be disgust, "Really? Already? And here I thought we were done for the day."

"Save your sarcasm and just answer me, I know you know what I asked of you now give me the answer!" Iron Hoof snapped.

The shadowy prince once more sighed and his eyes once more glowed as bright red orbs, "The test you seek is full of mystery and myth, but you will know is chosen true, by the golden glow and a shine of blue with the help of a chosen stone. In other words; the only way to know who the true chosen is, is to find the Shimmer stone."

"Come again? The Shimmer stone?" Iron questioned gruffly.

"The blue gemstone that was once embedded into Princess Shimmer's crown so long ago, broken into three shards and lost after the darkness vanished. When the three pieces are close the shards will illuminate and the enchantment will activate the magic inside the shards to reveal to you the chosen. You already know where to find your shard, probably, so it shouldn't be that hard even for you." Lazul answered.

Iron hoof thought angrily for a moment, wanting to demand he be told where to find it, but he figured it would get him nowhere, "Alright then seems I have just the gem. I'll get this over with and I'll finally be a _**true**_ king!"

As if to show how serious he was he used his magic and shot a beam of light at one of the vases, shattering it completely, though his horn fizzled out as soon as he managed this.

"Blast!" He growled in anger, causing the trapped prince to laugh.

"Seriously?" Lazul questioned, "You honestly think that any of this is going to matter? What do you think will happen when you are about to be crowned king and your magic isn't even stable enough to lift your crown?"

"Shut up!" He snapped at the mirror as his horn glowed in anger, if maybe a bit dimmer after his last spell, "My magic grows stronger every day! And soon I'll be able to use my magic without consequence!"

It was no secret to the mirror that Iron Hoof used his enchantment to steal magic from the ponies of his kingdom. He was certain it was merely temporary as after he used even one spell his magic would once more weaken, from what Lazul could only hope was the magic returning to those who lost it. He knew that the reason he did it was because he wished to become powerful, heck he was barely able to summon Lazul with his own magic in the first place, after all he himself had never been a simple shadow when he was alive and from what he knew through his enchantment was that, even if one becomes trapped, with the right amount of magic he should appear as a simple floating head but still look like his old body. Then he thought more on what Iron Hoof had just said. Without Consequence? But all magic had a consequence to it in one form or another, as far as he knew anyway.

Before he could question his reasoning and his methods he canceled the summons enchantment and left in a huff, going to the treasury in order to search for the shard of stone he needed, certain he would be able to tell which one he needed by looking for a gemstone that was broken. He grinned as he looked far into a back corner in a case that held many of the broken gems they had moved from the old palace. Upon inspecting them closer he noticed that there was one smaller dark blue gem hidden among them. As if that weren't obvious, or downright lucky, enough for him the gem shard began to faintly glow for a short time before returning to normal. He quickly picked it out as the gem he needed and smirked to himself.

"This is my ticket to power. This little gemstone in my hoof will get me started on a way to my destiny!" He laughed with a grin.

He moved to begin preparations for the next few days, knowing it could be a day or two before every Pegasus was called to him. He ordered the entirety of the courtyard be cleared so that there would be enough room for every pony there would be. He paced around the main study before he growled to himself in frustration. He knew he needed more magic, and he needed it quickly. He knew once he had Princess Shimmer, not only could he marry her and become a true king of his land, but he could also use the enchantment of the mirror and drain magic from her every single day. He would never grow low on magic again, and his dear _**wife**_ would be none the wiser.

"Taffy Surprise! Come out here!" Iron Hoof barked angrily.

A bubbly pink Earth pony with a slightly darker pink mane and blue eyes bounced into the room with a grin, "Yes sir, your Ironyness!"

"I require your planning skills." Iron Hoof stated flatly, "A wedding in fact."

"Ooooh! Fun! Who's getting married?!" Taffy beamed, practically bouncing around her boss now.

"I am. Though the bride has yet to be found, I'm confident I'll have the ability to find her soon enough." He told her in a serious tone.

She nodded and pulled a quill and notepad out of her mane with a grin, "Ok, tell me EVERYTHING you want for your perfect wedding and Taffy's on the case!"

He rolled his eyes and used his magic to clear them a space to discuss it, knowing full well he had the time. After all it would be a few days before all of the pegasi were brought to him, and he did need to plan a perfect wedding for when Shimmer did return, knowing full well a public and expensive wedding would add to the charade and heaven knew that this would have to be convincing. He never mentioned how the bride hadn't even agreed yet, but he figured he would have time to worry about that while the so called Chosen was out finding her for him.

* * *

 **And that's it for chapter two, hopefully soon I can start on Chapter three, for now, I need for focus on finishing chapter 34 of Starlight Summer, and _that_ is honestly taking me forever. Hopefully I'll get it out soon as well. Hope you enjoyed!**


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